The day we retruned from Siem Reap (Dec23) I have not felt good. I developed a rash, fever, achy body, etc that took about 5 days to heal up. Immediately after, my eyes got incredibly sore accompanied by a bigtime headache. I went to a doctor and he told me that I had an infection and put me on 7 days worth of antibiotics. After a couple of days I started to feel better and went back to work. Too soon, I guess. My symptoms have returned and I am out of action again. Hopefully my remaining two days of antibiotics will kill this thing off so I can start being productive again.

We have made our decision that we'll return to North America in May. That gives us 5 months more here in Cambodia. We both would like to return to school and work towards a Masters degree. Florida Christian University supposedly accepts credits from Celebration Bible College, so we are gonna see about maybe doing some schooling in Orlando, or at least some correspondance, God willing. Whenever we decide to settle down, and if that happens to be in North America, we would like to be able to pursue employment within the ministry rather than secularly. Chaplaincy would be pretty sweet. A Masters, and ordination, would be required.

Cambodia remains hot. The fruit remains slow, and the ministry crawls forward, seeking to accomodate the increasing demands of New Hope English School. Our job in our time that remains is to pour into the NHES teaches, so that they can shoulder the English school after Jenny & I are gone.

It will be nice to see our home church again, and to spend some time in the company of like-minded people striving for more of the manifestation of God in our lives. Our time in Cambodia has been a realization of how much the presence of God should mean to us. "Obedience is better than sacrifice" has not been just a verse of scripture for us, but a practical life lesson.
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The Desert Monks of Egypt followed a three-step path to mysticism. The first level was called the "Purgatio" during which the young monk struggled through prayer and ascetic practices to gain control of "the flesh" - specifically gluttony, lust, and the desire for possessions. During this period, the young monk was to learn that any strength he had to resist these desires (grace) came directly from the Holy Spirit. At the end of the "Purgatio," or in Greek "Catharsis" a period that often took many years, the monk had learned to trust peacefully in the Lord for all his needs. As the monk underwent this period of purging, he identified with Christ's temptation in the desert (Matthew 4:1–11, Mark 1:12-13, Luke 4:1-13).
At this point the "Illuminatio" or in Greek "theoria" commenced. During this period the monk learned the paths to holiness revealed in the Gospel. During the "Illuminatio" many monks took in visitors and students, and tended the poor as much as their meager resources allowed. They identified strongly with Christ when he taught the Sermon on the Mount, recounted in Matthew chapters 5, 6, and 7. The monk continued his life of humility in the Spirit of God; his stoic acceptance of suffering often made him the only man capable of taking on heroic or difficult responsibilities for the local Christian community. Many monks died never having moved past this period.
The final stage was the "Unitio," or in Greek "theosis" a period when the soul of the monk and the Spirit of God bonded together in a union often described as the marriage of the Song of Solomon (also called the "Song of Songs," or the "Canticle of Canticles"). Elderly monks often fled into the deep desert or into remote forests to find the solitude and peace that this level of mystical awareness demanded. In this, the monk identified with the transfigured Christ, who after his resurrection was often hidden from his disciples. Ascetics who achieve this level of ascetic enlightenment are referred to as Schema.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Cassian
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